DBKL gets green light to sell 43 land parcels for private development

KUALA LUMPUR,. Federal Territories Minister Khalid Abdul Samad said today that Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has been given the go-ahead to complete the sale of 43 parcels of land that had been previously suspended due to suspected shady dealings.

He added that the sale of 10 other plots of public land was stopped and returned to DBKL with compensation paid to the would-be buyers.

“The money paid for the land re-obtainment is around RM120 million.

“Another 23 transactions are still being renegotiated for the return of the funds, which we will announce tomorrow,” he told reporters during a programme to mark the fifth anniversary of the KL Car Free Morning here.

The sale of 64 parcels of public land in the capital city by the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) administration was spotlighted just after the May 9 general election.

Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng questioned the sale to the Federal Territories Foundation and other developers below market price, as they were not done through open tender.

The DAP lawmaker had urged the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to look into the RM4.28 billion sale in 2013, under the then FT minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor.

A special committee was then set up by the FT Ministry on July 31 on Khalid’s orders to look into the 64 land parcels. Its report was subsequently handed to the MACC on September 4.

Today, Khalid said that the number of land parcels under investigation has increased to 97 since Lim highlighted the matter.

The area for the 97 parcels of land was estimated to measure 273 hectares, or 1.1 per cent of Kuala Lumpur’s total size.

“Initially, the number of transactions was estimated to be 64, but has since been expanded to 97 wherein the land will be bought back for future savings,” Khalid said.

He added that 20 more land parcels have already been transferred to their respective buyers, though the MACC is still investigating the transactions.